This manual is written for grant evaluators in various issue areas trying to make sense of technology grant proposals they receive as well as non-profit grant writers trying to solicit support for their proposals. the ICT challenges and tips presented cut across issue areas and are valid for both the traditional ICT circumstance as well as the Web 2.0 world of social networking and mobile access. Having spent over a decade evaluating and supporting technical proposals as a Program Director and CIO at a large funder, I wrote this manual to share some tips and tricks I learned evaluating technology proposals and implementing ICT projects globally.

The twenty-nine page guide is written in very practical terms. Each page describes a distinct ICT issue related to proposals, a brief description of the issue, and most importantly a recommendation, often with links to support it. The tips loosely move from design, implementation, budgeting and sustainability to specific topics of software development, social networking, mobile applications, content creation, licensing and project evaluation.

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Manual Comments?

Preliminary feedback is that the manual is quite useful:

I very rarely use the term but I found your new tech grantmaking guide brilliant work and wanted to say thanks. As long as I've been doing this, the basic principles haven't changed but the landscape has endured tectonic shifts. I very much appreciate your pithy one pager tips and have recommended my entire team read through them. It's not like we don't know most of them -- but you have put them out in clear memorable prose with relevant suggestions for each. Well done!
Peter Tavernise,
Executive Director, Cisco Foundation; Director, Cisco Corporate Affairs, Public Benefit Investment

Thanks for writing this, Jonathan. I may put this into the syllabus for a course I'm doing at Wagner (NYU's Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service) next spring.

Derek Coursen
Adjunct Assistant Professor of Public Administration at New York University,
Director of Planning & Informatics
Public Health Solutions

I'm assuming its OK for us to share this via our social media world?

Jane Messik, Director, Community Affairs at Microsoft

20 Tips Every Strategic Grant Seeker Should Know

This manual is written for every grant seeker wanting to do a better job of translating their passion into successful grants or who have walked away from donor interactions wondering what they were thinking. It explores the key issues from a grant maker's perspective, providing grant seekers insight into the dynamics of the donor decision making process and the reasoning behind it. Most importantly, it lays out strategies to leverage these dynamics.

The twenty-four page guide is written in very practical terms. Each page describes a distinct donor behavior or practice, a brief description of why it occurs, its effect, and most importantly a strategy for the grant seeker to leverage or avoid it. I think it's a very useful and timely guide for difficult economic times and is based on my experience on both sides of the table and in the sector over a couple of decades. Expect at least a few "A-Ha" moments as you read the tips and accumulate insight into donor behavior.

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Manual Comments?

Here is what a recent client had to say:

Jonathan's tireless edit of my grant proposal propelled it to the forefront.Â His extensive experience with non-profits and NGOs across the globe gives him a keen insight into the their needs; and that, combined with an in-depth understanding of philanthropic communities and their specific funding requirements allows him to add a layer of context to a proposal that only someone with his experience can do.Â Not only did he clean up my grammar, but he teased new meanings, connections and opportunities out of the proposal and
crafted a masterpiece from an otherwise pedestrian piece of writing.Â Â
Thank you Jonathan!